Amazon has narrowed the list of cities that could become home to its second headquarters, and Los Angeles is among the 20 finalists nationwide.

The online retail giant released a map Thursday showing Los Angeles as the only city on the West Coast still in the running. However, a company spokesman, Adam Sedo, said Los Angeles should really be read as the “L.A. metropolitan area.”

That means Orange County, Ventura County and the Inland Empire, where Amazon already operates several large warehouses, could all be included in Amazon’s real estate hunt.

Riverside County’s application included several potential sites sites — one in the city of Riverside, one in Perris, two in Moreno Valley, two in the March Joint Powers Authority area and one each in Menifee and Murrieta.

Amazon’s list was culled from 238 proposals the Seattle-based e-commerce company received from cities and regions that were hoping to land the Amazon HQ2. Los Angeles is the only California city — or rather the state’s metropolitan region — to make the cut.

Nine sites proposed in LA County

That didn’t surprised Bill Allen, CEO of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. The LAEDC submitted a proposal in October, at the request of Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, highlighting nine potential sites throughout L.A. County deemed suitable for Amazon’s needs.

“I don’t know if they will be narrowing the list down further,” Allen said, “but I do know that Amazon will be requesting further information on these sites and visiting them to gather additional facts.”

LAEDC spokesman Lawren Markle said his agency received word from Amazon that its proposal made the latest cut, but he didn’t hear whether others in the area were removed.

“I’m not saying that Orange County is not in there,” Markle said. “I know for certain our proposal is moving ahead.”

The proposal straddling two counties, however, is dead. An Amazon official told Huntington Beach in a separate call that the joint bid submitted with Long Beach, called Amazon Coast, did not make the final list of candidates, Huntington Beach Assistant City Manager Lori Ann Farrell said. But the Amazon official said the company left open the possibility that some of the sites contained in the bid still could be considered.

Lots of jobs, lots of space

Amazon plans to spend more than $5 billion to build its second headquarters, after its first in Seattle. The company said the second location would support as many as 50,000 new jobs in a complex taking up about 8 million square feet of space.

The world’s leading online retailer is looking for a metropolitan area of more than 1 million people, a stable and business-friendly environment, urban or suburban locations with the potential to attract and retain strong tech talent, and communities that “think big and creatively.”

Another 19 cities are still also in the running a host of major cities, including New York City, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington D.C. Other smaller cities made the list too, like Raleigh, North Carolina and and Columbus, Ohio. Amazon also listed northern Virginia and Montgomery County in Maryland as potential sites.

Big incentives

California Gov. Jerry Brown offered tax breaks and additional incentives worth hundreds of millions of dollars if Amazon chooses the Golden State for its second home. It certainly doesn’t hurt that California is already home to such tech firms as Facebook, Google, Intuit and LinkedIn.

LAEDC’s Allen figures L.A. County has an inside track.

“They need a highly talented education pool, which we have here in L.A. County,” he said. “We’re the only county in America with three world-class research universities — Caltech, USC and UCLA. We are a global innovation leader. Choosing a market like this would validate the broad array of attributes the county has to offer.”

Allen also lauded the region’s logistics network, transit connectivity, global connections and overall quality of life.

“They were very clear in their (request for proposals) that they need air travel connections to strategic cities,” he said. “We have that, and we also have our leading ports. That’s why L.A. County’s (gross domestic product) is larger than that of all but 20 nations in the world.”

Holding out hope

“We may just be LA to them,” Irvine Mayor Donald Wagner said in reaction to the new that Los Angeles means more than the city and maybe more than even the county of the same name.

Irvine Co.’s Donald Bren offered a “one-click” option in which he would build new offices per Amazon’s specifications and lease the space to Amazon.

Santa Ana developer Mike Harrah pitched his own three-parcel plan that would re-purpose the former Orange County Register Building and his proposed high-rise, One Broadway Plaza, in Santa Ana, along with the Willowick Golf Course on the Santa Ana River. All three sites eventually will be linked by a planned light rail line now under development.

Harrah said he recently got a call from a Seattle consultant he assumed was working with Amazon seeking more information about the three Santa Ana sites.

“I think L.A. means the L.A. area. I don’t think Orange County is out,” Harrah said. “Unfortunately, not everybody in the world recognizes Orange County. They think Orange County is part of L.A.”

Riverside County officials included a video that touted the area’s ability to draw employees from throughout Southern California and its housing affordability.

“The county submitted an innovative package to generate attention,” county spokesman Ray Smith said. “It might not have made the cut but we hope the edgy submission sticks in people’s minds and pays off on future projects by Amazon and its many partners.”

Moreno Valley also submitted its own application that included a proposal for a monorail and a fake edition of the Washington Post — which is owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. The city ended up removing all traces of the fake paper after the newspaper accused the city of violating its trademark,

Moreno Valley Mayor Yxstian Gutierrez and Economic Development Director Mike Lee could not be reached for comment Thursday.

A housing disruption

No everyone is thrilled with the idea of Amazon coming to Southern California.

“This is funny,” Thornberg said. “Our leaders in the city of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County are all panicked about the rising cost of housing, the low supply of housing and how so many low-income people can’t afford homes. So we’re going to plop 50,000 high-tech workers down in the middle of all this? Are you kidding me? The solution is to increase the housing supply. The city of Los Angeles isn’t doing too bad of a job … but other cities are not.”

Thornberg further noted that the region’s unemployment rate is extremely low and that Southern California is essentially at full employment.

“All of our skilled workers are already employed,” he said. “They’ll have to import workers for every job they fill. And those people will displace non high-tech workers. Just look at San Jose. The high-tech workers there are pushing everyone else out.”

Lessons learned

Despite the rejection, Huntington Beach Councilwoman Barbara Delgleize, who was the mayor when her city joined Long Beach in a partnered bid, figures the effort was worthwhile.

“I don’t see that there’s a downside,” she said, noting that the exercise gave the city a better understanding of its resources and potential when other opportunities arise.

Huntington Beach City Manager Fred A. Wilson said the high-level visibility of the city’s proposal will serve as a launching pad for other tech firms that may want to locate there.

“Proximity to the largest port complex in the nation, three airports, a multitude of transportation services, various housing options, diverse communities and perfect year-round weather still make us a good choice for big business,” he said. “And we’re ready.”

Kevin Smith handles business news and editing for the Southern California News Group, which includes 11 newspapers, websites and social media channels. He covers everything from employment, technology and housing to retail, corporate mergers and business-based apps. Kevin often writes stories that highlight the local impact of trends occurring nationwide. And the focus is always to shed light on why those issues matter to readers in Southern California.

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